Mandy
Templeton-Drake was married on October 25, 2003, which she says, was
the best day of her life. Little did she know at the time that 16 days
later her life was about to change forever. Her mother, Debbie Templeton
was a beautiful and healthy 54-year-old woman. She didn’t drink
or smoke and had yearly check ups with her doctor.

In October
of last year she began not feeling well, the family didn’t think
much about it. They thought maybe she had caught the flu or some other
minor illness. Following the wedding, Mandy and her husband left for
a week on their honeymoon. When they returned, Mandy’s mother
still wasn’t feeling well and was complaining about a pain under
her ribcage on her right side. She had gone to her doctor and was told
it was possibly her gall bladder, and she went in for an ultrasound
on Monday morning, November 10th. Later that day, she received a phone
call from the doctor’s office asking her to come back in and to
bring someone with her. Mandy’s father accompanied her to the
office and at that time they were both advised that Debbie
had cancer. The assumption at the time is that it was Ovarian Cancer,
but nothing was for sure until more testing was done. The doctor advised
Debbie that it “didn’t look good”.

For the
next few weeks, all of their lives were turned up side down with preparations
for her “exploratory” surgery (which she was advised needed
to be done as soon as possible). On November 28th, she went into surgery
for four hours. When the surgeon emerged from the operating room, the
family and friends that were there were given the news that Debbie’s
ovaries were the size of baseballs, and that the cancer had spread to
her liver. The surgeon removed her ovaries, some limph nodes but he
said her liver was inoperable. Following surgery, she remained in ICU.
At first she was doing really well, the doctor took her off of the respirator,
she was talking and laughing. Two days later she began having trouble
breathing and chest x-rays indicated that her lungs were full of fluid.
They
had to place her back on the respirator, and that would be the last
time that I would hear her speak. She asked Mandy to “take her
home”. Her 54th birthday was on December 3rd, she was not awake
to see the happy birthday sign and cards family and friends had placed
in her room...

On December 6th,
Debbie’s blood pressure began dropping and at 9:05pm she went
into cardiac arrest and passed away.

Why
did you get involved in this cause?

After my mother
passed away, I had so many questions like how could a woman that a month
before was healthy and full of life be gone? How did the doctors not
catch this earlier? I wanted to make sure that other women are aware
of this disease and have a better chance than my mother did.

How
did you choose which Charities to support?

My mother
was involved with the Relay for Life as a volunteer for the past couple
years and my family and I have attended Relays before. They are a great
way to raise awareness about all types of cancer, as well as a support
system for survivors and those who have lost loved ones. The Gilda Radner
Fund, it seemed to be the largest group spreading the word about ovarian
cancer.

What
are you hoping to accomplish?

When all this happened,
I had no idea that there is a blood test specifically designed to look
for Ovarian Cancer! It is called the CA-125. Why isn’t every woman
required to have this test yearly like a mammogram or Pap smear? My
goal is to make all women aware of what is available to them and to
educate themselves on Ovarian Cancer before it is too late.--
Annie Van Bebber

Do
you know people like Mandy Templeton-Drake?Every cause
should have an angel who has the vision and the persistence to help
it reach its goal. Do you know somebody like this? Tell us about them.
We're always looking for people to honor on this page. Just write us
at...